H is for Hazel Scott
DGRI commissioned twenty-seven local woman-identifying artists to paint portraits of influential women on mechanical boxes located throughout Downtown Grand Rapids, in honor of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month 2019. The project is inspired by "Rad American Women A-Z," a New York Times bestselling book written by Kate Schatz and illustrated by Miriam Klein Stahl.

I had the honor of painting Hazel Scott on the electrical box located on the corner of Fountain Street and Lafayette Avenue in Heritage Hill neighborhood. Some brief info on her: recognized early as a musical prodigy, Hazel was given scholarships from the age of eight to study at the Juilliard School. She began performing in a jazz band in her teens and was performing on radio at age 16. She was prominent as a jazz singer throughout the 1930s and 1940s. In 1950, she became the first black performer to host her own nationally syndicated tv show.